Pig Lib

Stephen Malkmus

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 18, 2003)
• Original Release Date: March 18, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Matador Records
• ASIN: B00008AY6B
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #97,832 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
As an indie paragon since the early '90s, it's inevitable that Stephen Malkmus would want to make music that falls closer to traditional rock. His second solo album is the logical extension of those moments when Pavement cautiously approached the classic-rock canon, albeit from an oblique angle. Initially, it's hard-going for listeners. Where Malkmus's self-titled debut accentuated his flirtatious, pop-friendly inclinations, Pig Lib is gnarlier and more expansive. At times, it's uncharacteristically earnest, as if Malkmus was trying to defuse those usual jibes of archness with a sustained bout of jamming. Persevere, though, and Pig Lib's excellence is revealed. The two most obvious influences on spindly, febrile epics like "1% of One" and "Witch Mountain Bridge" are Television and Fairport Convention; Malkmus is particularly proficient at highlighting the affinities between New York art punk and British folk-rock through his notably improved guitar playing. Less rock-oriented souls, meanwhile, will be heartened by evidence of his continuing Ray Davies fetish on "Vanessa from Queens" and, especially, the "Waterloo Sunset"-styled "Craw Song." This is an album that, if lived with and nurtured, amply repays the kindness. --John Mulvey

Product Description
His sophomore album embraces the classic rock ensemble featuring a delectable array of antecedents inform the music herein, from Irish prog-folk greats Mellow Candle to the Jazz inflected musings of Kevin Ayers and Lol Coxhill to some of the more outro moments on Pavements weirdest album, Wowee Zowee. Includes a bonus CD with 5 tracks, 'Dynamic Calories', 'Fractions & Feelings', 'Old Jerry', 'The Poet & The Witch' (live Sweden 2001) & 'Shake It Around' (live Australia 2001). Digipak. Matador. 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pavement is dead, but not gone, May 7, 2003

By	"indie-snob" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Few geniuses come along in ones lifetime who can truly be remembered in music. Today, we are perhaps faced with only a handful, among them Billy Corgan, Thom Yorke, and of course, Stephen Malkmus.

Head of the tremendously popular yet insanely underground indie band, Pavement, back in the early 90s, Malkmus is no stranger to the world of rock. We all knew Pavement was rad, but I think Malkmus's solo career has been far underpublicized for its magnitude. The fact is that Pavement remains that simplistic but influential band that everyone includes in their list of influences. Malkmus builds on that simple insanity, layering it with more guitar solos than Pavement ever saw and a sound that could be determined as a bit more cleaned up and at times, just a bit more lo-fi.

Malkmus's vocals remain as occasionally unnatural as ever, that forced, DIY indie attitude of vocal stylings. The lyrics and melodies, however, are stunning at times.

Songs like "Dark Wave" make this indie legend sound more like a new wave master, somehow sounding like vocals out of a System of a Down sound while retaining an overall feel closer to a band like the Faint.

Overall, though, the album has a feel closer to good ole rock 'n' roll. "Witch Mountain Bridge" has beautiful guitars and really nice vocals. It immediately struck me as being a really great song, although I'll admit that there's one melodic section in it that reminds me tremendously of the Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Californication." Around the half-way mark of the song comes this guitar solo that while simple in nature, just blew me away. Listening to it, I really think it's the riffs that make this album what it is.

Other great songs included "Us," something sounding almost poppy, a mix of Belle and Sebastian with Beck. "I don't really know your taste in ceilings," Malkmus sings, "but for now i think i'll keep on reeling / this adventure needs a little game." It's amazing how well this man's songwriting abilities have increased even since the days of Wowee Zowee. I also really liked "Craw Song," with keyboards and really nice guitars, the lyrics perhaps may even equal the insanity that we once knew with Pavement. "Michael wants Jackie / Jackie wants William / William wants Leroy / But Leroy is straight." There is just this silent sense of humor in the song: "I kiss and tell and make life hell."

Unfortunately, I don't think there's one bad song on this album... which in retrospect isn't unfortunate at all. I really feel that this album is magnificent, a modern work of art encompassing the traditional Pavement sound with a more mature element. This is excellent indie-rock, perhaps some of the finest there is. Truly. I'm actually blown away by this album, and right now, it ranks at #4 or so for my top of 2003 list (the Postal Service remains at top, followed by Cursive and perhaps Rainer Maria).

So, if you like indie rock with insane lyrics, great guitars, even a remotely folk sound... go for this. Really, best guitar solos I've ever heard within solid rock music here. Plus an sense of melody that only bands like Belle & Sebastian could suprass. Brilliant.

Check out if fans of: Pavement (of course), Velvet Underground, Spoon, the White Stripes, Ted Leo, Paul Westerberg (and the Replacements), Belle and Sebastian, the new Beck, Built to Spill (Doug Martsch), Guided by Voices or maybe even the Strokes...

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No, I'm serious..., April 8, 2003

By	el_abrotsky "el_abrotsky" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This is Malkmus's best effort in nearly a decade. I swear I gave this record a chance to wear off on me. I wanted to convince myself that it's not as good as I think it is. I didn't want it to screw with my current theory on Malkmus, that is, he is a man past his prime scraping by with the remnants of the creative edge he once had.

What can I say? 'Ol SM proved this guy wrong.

(I am a monster for referencing his older work, but I can't resist. If you have a problem with that, I understand, and do mind the following paragraph.)

Malkmus parades a greater mastery of everything he's ever worked on with this thing. He elevates his Wowee Zowee mellower sound with "Ramp of Death" and "Us", his Brighten The Corners/Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain comedy jam sound with "1% of One," "Do Not Feed the Oyster," and "Witch Mountain Bridge," his Pavement b-side pop brilliance with "Vanessa From Queens" and "Craw Song," and the Terror Twilight darkness with "Animal Midnight," and then there's the other stuff, which either takes his musical vision to new areas or just escapes the grasp of any immediate comparisons.

I swear, it's all sharper and superior here. The man can rock your socks off at will. I had no idea, even though I had an idea. "1% of One" is the "Stairway to Heaven" for this generation.

Give in, buy this, and love it like it should be loved. Pig Lib is an unexpected beam of light that tears through Pavement's shadow after four long years. SM is now truly a solo artist.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Can't Put My Finger On It..., July 15, 2003

By A Customer

...but there's something about SM's latest effort that just clicks. I was never into Pavement, just because there's so much other stuff out there, and I felt that theirs was just mediocre-to-good material. I listened to some samples of Malkmus' last solo album, but it just sounded one-dimensional, like he was trying to do one thing, but ended up doing another...and the material suffered.

Then, I heard "Vanessa From Queens" on Netscape Radio, and I was intrigued. I listened to a few samples on Amazon, and I must say, I couldn't place it, but I knew it was good. So, I bought it:

His refined-yet-fun indie-pop shows best on that track, "Vanessa From Queens". The rest is hard to label. There's no doubt about the psychadelic rock & jam-bands influence that is present in most of the non-pop tracks. One minute, he seems to be jamming like GD or Hot Tuna, the next, he's doing a refined imitation of Zappa (sans those flutes that I hated so much), and the next, he's Pavement again. The abrupt stops, followed by quick drum solos and oddly-placed classic-rock-esque guitar riffs, combined with the aforementioned psychadelic trend, certainly give the listener the feeling that this album could have been recorded in 1969 just as easily as 2002. The jam-band-esque rambling (evident on such tracks as "Witch Mountain Bridge") also give off that tone of free-spirited lack of structure that only jam bands and late 60's psych-rock have.

But, just as you think he's gone from Pavement to The String Cheese Incident, he pulls you back to his subtle structure, and never lets you forget that this ain't 1969, and he ain't Jerry.

It would almost seem like some kind of odd experiment in indie-rock/jamband fusion, if it weren't so seamlessly executed. He takes the best of both world and smacks 'em together; Pig Lib seems to have the energy and structure of indie-pop, and the free-spirited anti-structure of Jam-Band. SM knows what he's doing (most of the time, at least...it's hard to imitate Zappa and not lose yourself somewhat). Only someone who knew what they were doing could stitch together all these stylistic elements so well, and still have flawless rhythms with just the slightest hook.

The first listen was confusing. The second was revealing. The third was sublime. And each one since is just a little more enjoyable than the last. Check it out! The Jicks certainly add another dimension to Stephen Malkmus' odd world, and his experiments don't sound like experiments at all.